Ignition apparatus



May 12, 1925. 1,537,263 H. E. RICE IGNITION APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. 12, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet; 1

H. E. RICE IGNITION APPARATUS May 12, 1925. 1,537,263

Original Filed Nov. 12, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheeii 2 A TTORNEY.

May 12, 1925. 1,537,263

H. E. RICE IGNITION APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. 12, 1920 3 Sheets-Shoat 5 A TTORNE Y.

Patented May 12, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HORACE E.

RICE, DECEASED, LATE or PEILLDELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA; BY KATH- LEEN 1?. RICE, ADMINISTRATBIX, or ENEIELD, CONNECTICUT.

IGNITION APPARATUS.

Original application filed November 12, 1920, Serial No.'423,833. Divided and this application filed August 20, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that HORACE E. RICE, a citizen of theUnited States, deceased, formerly of the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, during his lifetime invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ignition Apparatus, and that I, KATHLEEN F. RICE, administratrixof the estate of the said HORACE E. RICE, deceased, do hereby declare to the best of my knowledge and belief that the following specification, taken in connection with the drawings furnished and forming a part of the same, is a clear, true, and complete description of said improvement. v

The invention relates to apparatus for controlling the electrical ignition of internal combustion engines, and resides more particularly in distributor structure, features of arrangement and combination of the induction coil structure with the distributor and current controlling structure, and in other features of construction, arrangement and combination hereinafter described and claimed.

This application is a division from application Serial No. 423,633, filedNovember 12,

For an understanding of the invention and for an illustration of one of the various forms it may take, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which: i

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the interrupter or timer structure and associated circuits.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating motor cylinders or groups of cylinders disposed at an angle with respect to each other.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of part of the apparatus.

t Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view, some parts in elevatiomtaken on the line H of ig. 3, and through structure additional to that shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of part of the structure shown in Fig. i. I Referring to Fig. 1, alternate spark plugs 72 are those of the six cylinders of one group,

and 'are connected to the stationary distributor terminals t'; while the plugs pl, connected to the stationary distributor terminals 252, are those of another group of six cylinders, the two groups forming a twin six engine.

' Ordinarily the two groups are so arranged Serial No. 658,247.

.tor hereinbefore referred to.

In consequence, when cylinder firing takes place alternately in the different groups, the angular distance between a distributor terminal t and the succeeding terminal tZ is 22 degrees, while the angle between each distributor terminal tl and the succeeding terminal t is 37 degrees, as indicated in F i'g, 1, when. the rotary distributor arm D rotates at half engine speed.

The distributor arm D is connected to one terminal of the high tension secondary windingS of an induction coil I whose primary P is connected in the primary circuit extending-from the ground or frame G through battery '13, switch .9, binding post a, the aforesaid primary coil P, binding post I) to the interrupters or timers A and B, both shunted by the condenser K, to ground or frame G.

The interrupter mechanisms A and B are shown to be similar in structure, though such similarlty 1s not essential. In the example illustrated they are of the open circuit type,

an example of'which is described in Kents Patent No. 1,246,818, though it will be un-i derstood that my inventio comprehends also the employment of close circuit interrupters such as illustrated, for example, in Kents Patent No. 1,289,036. As illustrated, each interrupter comprises the stationary interrupter contact 1 which is momentarily engaged by the cooperating moving ontact 2 carried by the yieldingly mounted member 3, with which is associated the hooked member 4 actuated by the intermediate or hammer member 5, pivoted at 6 and in turn actuated by the member or lifter 7 controlled by spring 8 and actuated by cam 9, rotated by and at half speed with respect to the main crank shaft of the motor..

, The cam 9 has-its control teeth, points or 9, similarly producing a spark, but the sparks produced by one interrupter, as A, alternate with those produced by the other interrupter, as B. In other words, the interrupter A may produce sparks for all the cylinders of one group, while B produced the sparks for all the cylinders of the other group. lVhile the sparks in the two groups alternate, they do not occur at uniform intervals, as above stated. To insure that they occur at the proper intervals or instants the interrupters A and B are unsymmetrically placed as regards angular position about the cam 9, whereby the interrupter A is operated, and upon further rotation of 22 degrees by cam 9 the interrupter B is actuated; thereafterthe cam 9 rotates 37 degrees further beforeagain actuating the interrupter A. The interrupters A and B are not opposite each other or displaced by 180 degrees, but by 180 degrees less 22% degrees.

Accordingly,- notwithstanding the fact that the cam points are uniformly spaced, ignition sparks are produced at unequal intervals; and further, notwithstanding the fact that the cam has a certain number of points, six in the example illustrated, there are produced for each revolution of the cam twice as many sparks as there are cam points.

It will be understood, however, that in case sparking at uniform intervals is desired, the same cam and interrupters may be employed. Again assuming a twin six motor, but with the groups at 60 degrees with respect to each other, the interrupters would be placed, for example, 180 degrees less 30 degrees, or 150 degrees from each other. In any event, after actuating one interrupter the cam will be rotated 30 degrees and then operate the other, and so on in succession.

As an example of a structure embodying my invention, reference is now had to Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive, wherein is a base or sup port upon which is the flange 11 having slots 11 through which may extend bolts or other means for fastening the base 10.

upon the 'flLl]16\\"Ol'l( of the engine or other suitable support, the slots 11 allowing circumferential adjustment of the base 10 before finally securing it. At its one end the base 10 has the inwardly turned flange 12 in which are the circumferentially extending slots 13, Fig. 5, through which extend screws or bolts 14, each carrying on its lower end the nut 15 between which and the underside of the flange 12 is disposed a spring 16 surrounding the bolt 14, whereby the casing 17, having flange 18 bearing upon flange 12, is resiliently held to the base member 10, the slots 13 allowing rotation of the-casing 17 through suitable angle for; purposes of advancing or retarding ignition. Upon the bottom of the casing 17 is the bearing sleeve 19 within which is the bearing bushing 20 in which rotates the shaft 21 carrying a collar 22 and 23, which detachably connects with a shaft driven by the engine or motor at half the speed of the main crank shaft of the motor, assuming the latter to be of the type employing four strokes per cycle.

Within the casing 17 there is secured to the shaft 21 the governor plate 24, to which are secured springs 25 connected to governor arms 26 pivoted to the plate 2 1 at 27 and actuating under the influenceof centrifugal force the cam carrying plate 28 to move the same angularly with respect to.

the shaft 21. Secured to the plate 28 is the cam member 9 through which freely extends the distributor shaft 29 concentric with and secured to or integralwith the shaft 21.

Covering the casing 17 is; the metal plate 30, upon which are mounted the interrupters A and B, a lug or lever'arm 30 serving to rotate the plate 30 and the interrupters with respect to the cam 9 for advance or retardation of ignition. Through the plate 30 extends the aforesaid cam member 9 and through it the distributor shaft 29, whose upper end terminates in the semicircular portion 31 which with part of the circumferentially complete shaft 29 extends into the detachable or removable distributor block 32 of insulating material, having the central boss 33 extending through an aperture in the metallic distributor member D having the rearwardly extending balancing portion (Z. The distributor D is secured to block 32 by screw 34, threaded into an in' sert 35 molded in the block 32. 'Secured under the head of the screw 34 in contact with the distributor D is the bowed spring contact 36 whose free end engages the part (Z of the -distributor.

The member 37 of insulating material, preferably molded, forms a housing for the distributor and for the interrupter mechanisms A and B, whose parts are mounted within the casing 37 on the upper face of the plate 30, in cooperative relation with the cam 9, as hereinbefore described.

In the bottoms of depressions 38 in the upper edge of the casing member 37 and extending to the inner wall or face thereof are secured the inwardly projecting distributor terminals t and Z Z hereinbefore referred to, the outer end of the distributor D passing closely adjacent the inner ends of these distributor terminals, whereby the high tension energy from the secondary S leaps the small gaps between the distributor D and the terminals 25 and fl in passage to the spark plugs. The connections from the spark plugs to the distributor terminals extend into the apertures 39 terminating in smaller apertures through which the con- 'ductors themselves extend into contact withthe-distributor terminals, to which they may be soldered or otherwise secured. Upon the upper edge of the casing member 37 is dis-.

. tion coil I which, if suitable or desirable,

may be molded directly in insulating ma-' terial forming the casing 42. Forming the bottom of the casing 42 is the plate 43, preferably of insulating'material, carrying the axial contact 44, with which engages the aforementioned distributor contact 36 and connected to yielding contact 45 adapted to engage and contact with the terminal 46 constituting one terminal, as 47, Fig. 1, of

the high tension secondary S of the induction coil I, the other terminal of the secondary S being connected to the primary P whose terminals connect, as previously stated, to the binding posts a and b, comprised in part of the bolts 48 and 49 serving to clamp the casing 42 to the casing 37. Connection to switch 8, Fig. 1, is made by conductor held under binding post a, Fig. 4. The bolt 49 serves also to form electrical connection between one terminal of the primary P of the induction coil and the conductor 50, which is clamped by screw 51 in contact with the condenser housing plate 52 secured upon the top face of the plate 30 by screws 53, the plate 52 being, however, insulated from plate 30, which latter is grounded or connected to the frame by metallic communication through casings 17 and 10 and flange 11, whereby the movable contact 2 of interrupter A and sta' tionary contact 1 of interrupter B, secured to and connecting with the plate 3.0, are grounded.

Between the plate 52 and plate 30 is held the aforementioned condenser K, whose me terminal connects with the insulated cover plate 52. The stationary'contact 1 of the interrupter A is supported by the lug 54 upon the condenser cover plate 52; similary, B connects through its resilient support 3 with the condenser cover 52, upon which said member 3 is secured and with which it electrically connects. Accordingly the condenser co-ver 52 and one terminal of the condenser, together with the stationary contact of one interrupter and the movable contact of the other interrupter, are connected through conductor 50 and binding post I; with one terminal of a primary P of the induction coil I.

the movable contact 2 of the interrupter While, as hereinbefore stated, other types of interrupters than the open circuit type disclosed may be employed, there is a preference for the open circuit type, particularly when of the structure herein disclosed, in that back firing or premature ignition of the motor cannot occur, and in that auxiliar apparatus for preventing back firing need not be provided. In the example illustrated, rotation of the cam 9 in direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow, for a part of a revolution or more, will not, because of the structure and relation of the members 5 and 7, cause engagement and separation of the interrupter contacts essential to production of igniting sparks.

What I claim is:

1. Ignition ap aratus comprising a base, a governor cham er thereon, a governor in said chamber, a second chamber adjacent said governor chamber, interrupter mechanism in said second chamber, a casing on said second chamber, and an induction coil in said casing.

2. Ignition apparatus comprising a base, a governor chamber thereon, a governor in said chamber, a second chamber adjacent said governor chamber, interrupter and distributor mechanism in said second chamber, a casing on said second chamber, and an induction coil in said casing.

3. Ignition apparatus comprising a base, a governor chamber thereon, a governor in said chamber, a second chamber adjacent said governor chamber, interrupter mechanism in said second chamber, a casing on said second chamber, and an induction coil in said casing, said second chamber and said casing being rotatable with respect to said first named chamber for advancing or retarding ignition.

4. Igmtion apparatus comprising a base, a governor chamber thereon, a second chamber adjacent said governor chamber, a shaft extending into said governor chamber, a governor in said governor chamber driven by said shaft, a casing on said second chamber, an induction coil in said casing, and interrupter mechanism in said second chamber controlling a circuit of said induction coil and driven by said shaft through said governor.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature this 16th day of August 1923.

KATHLEEN ,F. RICE,

Administrattw of Horace E. Rice, deceased. 

